This invention relates to electromechanical transducers and more particularly to a housing and diaphragm assembly for attaching leads to such a transducer without unduly affecting the operating specifications.
The use of piezoresistive transducers is well known in the prior art as well as the use of such transducers in miniature circuitry and so on.
A major problem encountered in the prior art involved the attachment of leads to the piezoresistive or semiconductor elements associated with such units. As explained in detail, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,379 entitled ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS AND HOUSINGS, issued on Apr. 4, 1972 and assigned to the assignee herein, the leads acted as lossy springs and served to affect the characteristics of the transducer in regard to the frequency of operation, hysteresis tracking ability and other characteristics as well.
Thus, the above noted patent recognized the problem of isolating the terminals from the active area of the diaphragm and thus directed the leads through suitable apertures or slots in a side wall of a housing to thereby acheive superior operating characteristics than were obtainable with prior art devices.
In the prior art, the leads were usually coupled to the strain senstive elements within the active area of the diaphragm. While the slot housing approach has found widespread utility and is a desireable way to isolate the leads from the element, there is a further need for additional means of solving this problem which would provide a more efficient and economical apparatus serving to afford such isolation. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved electromechanical transducer in conjunction with an improved housing arrangement to provide terminal and lead isolation.